John G. Pool, Collector of Customs

John G. Pool was born in Pennsylvania in 1813. His family moved to Ohio in 1818, where they resided in Perry County. Later they moved to Fort Ball, near Tiffin. After the death of his parents, he moved to Port Clinton where he ran a general store, and in 1838, he moved to Sandusky. In the business directory of the September 22, 1852 issue of the Sandusky Daily Commercial Register, John Pool was listed as a partner in the Pool & Peck dry goods store. The business sold dry goods, groceries, boots, shoes, and hardware on Water Street. From the 1850s through the early 1870s, he was a flour dealer. According to the July, 1888 edition of the Firelands Pioneer, Mr. Pool was active in the Underground Railroad, aiding fugitive slaves on their way to freedom in Canada. From 1873 to 1881, he served as Collector of Customs, after having assisted Colonel Haines as deputy collector. His office was on the second floor of the old Post Office and Customs building in downtown Sandusky at the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and West Market Street.

 

Sandusky's early Post Office

John G. Pool died at his home of West Washington Street on October 10, 1888. A lengthy obituary appeared in the Sandusky Register on October 11, 1888. The article was filled with the flowery language of the late nineteenth century. It read, in part, “During his busy life he was ever ready to serve gratuitously in any good cause for the benefit of the community. Being a man of deep thought and strong convictions, he was never known to falter in the path of duty…In public and in private life he commanded the respect of friends and foes, if foes he had.”  The article ended with, “Why should we mourn the departure of one clothed in robes of righteousness and panoplied with the fruits of a well spent life?” John G. Pool was survived by his wife and five children. He was buried in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery.